Inside Unmanned Systems

AUG-SEP 2018

Inside Unmanned Systems provides actionable business intelligence to decision-makers and influencers operating within the global UAS community. Features include analysis of key technologies, policy/regulatory developments and new product design.

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16 unmanned systems
inside
August/September 2018
AIR
IPP UPDATE
T
he still new Integration Pilot
Program (IPP) is off to a fast
start with most of the teams
already planning technology
demonstrations for late summer.
The new program managers promised
by the Federal Aviation Administration
(FAA) are already in place to support
the teams, there is a channel set up to
f low test data to FA A and there are
even extra technical experts available
for problem solving as needed.
"Overall, I've been very impressed with
the FAA finding people who are willing
to find workarounds and to really push
boundaries, said Cathy Cahill, direc-
tor of the Alaska Center for Unmanned
Aircraft Systems Integration at the
University of Alaska-Fairbanks, which
is leading one of the teams.
Some of the team leads, however,
have also hit their f irst concussive
milestone—that point at which one's
plans run head on into reality and it
becomes necessary to step back for an
aspirin and some hard revision.
OUCH
The milestone was, as one team lead
described it, a "de-scoping" of some
Photos courtesy of ACUASI at the University of Alaska-Fairbanks, the Memphis-Shelby
County Airport Authority and Mark Blanks, Mid Atlantic Aviation Partnership at VA Tech..
teams' plans by the FA A to limit
duplication and to ensure that, at
the end of the t wo -year IPP pro -
gram, the FA A would have the data
it needs to write the regulations it
intends to produce.
"We asked them, the lead applicants
themselves, to prioritize what was
most important to them to get out of
the program—and that is what they
did," said Earl Lawrence, the direc-
tor of Unmanned Aircraft Systems
(UAS) at FA A. "And of course FA A
had some ideas also, but when we sat
down I'm happy to say that there was
alignment. We didn't need to change
the number one goals. So then the dis-
cussions moved on to 'Okay if those are
your number one goals, let's start at the
top. What is it going to take to do that?
...And, of course, that resulted in an
adjustment to what they're planning
on doing initially, within each one of
their plans."
Lawrence stressed that the teams'
number one priorities are largely in
line with those of the FA A. The one
significant exception, he said, was the
team lead by Memphis International
Airport.
by Dee Ann Divis
The Integration Pilot Program is moving briskly though some
teams were surprised, and disappointed, when the Federal Aviation
Administration narrowed their activities to their very top priorities.
FAA SHARPENS IPP
Teams' Focus
P P IP
Integration Pilot Program
Team Follow-Ups